TimeMachine - "Back Up Disc Not Available"

macrumors member

I have been using a MyBook WD 1TB drive connected to my AirPort Extreme for my TimeMachine back up disc. I have noticed that it has not been backing up recently so I made sure to open open the drive and have it mounted to my desktop then clicked "Back Up Now" on the TM pull down menu, it said "Preparing Backup" in the TM Pref screen then came back with the notification "The backup disc is not available" even though I know it should be since the icon is on my desktop. The only change I have made recently is updating my system to Snow Leopard but I'm not sure exactly if that was when my back ups stopped. Can anyone help me with this issue I'm having?????

macrumors newbie

I have been using a MyBook WD 1TB drive connected to my AirPort Extreme for my TimeMachine back up disc. I have noticed that it has not been backing up recently so I made sure to open open the drive and have it mounted to my desktop then clicked "Back Up Now" on the TM pull down menu, it said "Preparing Backup" in the TM Pref screen then came back with the notification "The backup disc is not available" even though I know it should be since the icon is on my desktop. The only change I have made recently is updating my system to Snow Leopard but I'm not sure exactly if that was when my back ups stopped. Can anyone help me with this issue I'm having?????

Click to expand...

i am having the same problem. local backups(usb) work fine but not network backups. not sure if this has anything to do with it but to get the original leopard OS to see my network drive on my airport extreme i had to run this command in terminal:

macrumors newbie

Following a tip elsewhere, I deleted the com.apple.TimeMachine.plist in the system Library, and restarted, which prompted Time Machine to ask what disk to use. All went smoothly from there. All my old backups are still in place and viable.

macrumors newbie

i had the same error, but i just clicked the "choose disk" button in the TM control panel, and chose the same disk again. magically, the disk icon changed back to the green TM disk icon and it happily started backing up.

macrumors member

I have been using a MyBook WD 1TB drive connected to my AirPort Extreme for my TimeMachine back up disc. I have noticed that it has not been backing up recently so I made sure to open open the drive and have it mounted to my desktop then clicked "Back Up Now" on the TM pull down menu, it said "Preparing Backup" in the TM Pref screen then came back with the notification "The backup disc is not available" even though I know it should be since the icon is on my desktop. The only change I have made recently is updating my system to Snow Leopard but I'm not sure exactly if that was when my back ups stopped. Can anyone help me with this issue I'm having?????

Click to expand...

exact SAME issue here.

Time Machine reports: Preparing backup... but then generates an error (after some time), stating The backup disk is not available (even though i can access it no problem via the Finder).

i just got my 2TB Capsule, and i have to say, i am quite disappointed so far. Windows 7 clients cannot maintain a reliable connection to the NAS (there are constant SMB timeouts/disconnects). the Capsule's NAS is essentially useless with Win7 clients.

and then Mac OSX Time Machine apparently 'forgets' where the TimeCapsule drive is located or can't find it for whatever reason. so, as it is right now, the NAS feature of the Time Capsule is an epic failure, completely unreliable at this point.

and to think i returned my AirPort Extreme (also recently purchased) and replaced it with the Time Capsule, wrong assuming that it would perform better AND reliably. turns out i was sadly mistaken.

so, there's $600 down the drain. thanks Apple!

Apple better release a firmware update SOON to FIX these glaring technical problems.
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update: i may have discovered WHY the Time Machine generates the 'backup disk not available' error.

i changed the default Time Capsule Name (via the AirPort Utility) to 'TimeCapsule', and that is when the problems with Time Machine backups began. re-selecting the newly configured Time Capsule name (via Time Machine preferences, Select Disk button) does not fix the issue.

only after renaming the Time Capsule back to its original name (when the Time Machine was initially configured to use the Time Capsule for backups), was the problem resolved. so now the Time Machine is doing backups to the Time Capsule again - after restoring the Time Capsule's old network name.

so, if your Time Machine suddenly can't find the Time Capsule NAS anymore, then maybe you've modified the Time Capsule Name. change it back to what it was and backups should (may?) start working again.

Windows 7 clients still can't establish a reliable connection to the TC NAS, at all. WinXP clients seem to be unaffected by the unstable NAS, however, the System Event Log on the XP client shows a lot of MRxSmb errors (redirector failed to determine the connection type), whenever the XP machine connects to the TC NAS. so there are definitely NAS issues affecting Windows network clients.

macrumors 6502

dead easy, all you do when getting the b,u,d, not available is turn off the time capsule at the power source wait for a couple of minutes turn back on, wait for light to go green,right click on toolbar icon 'back up now' and thats it!
best regards to all.

macrumors 6502a

i had the same error, but i just clicked the "choose disk" button in the TM control panel, and chose the same disk again. magically, the disk icon changed back to the green TM disk icon and it happily started backing up.

macrumors 6502a

i had the same error, but i just clicked the "choose disk" button in the TM control panel, and chose the same disk again. magically, the disk icon changed back to the green TM disk icon and it happily started backing up.

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